Method of producing phonograph records of special types



. Jan. 8 1924. 7 1,479,847

E. A. WIDMANN METHOD OF PRODUCING PHONOGRAPH RECORDS OF SPECIAL TYPESFiled July 29 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 anue'ufoz Jan. 8 1924. 1,479,847

E. A. WIDMANN METHOD OF PRODUCING PHONOGRAPH RECORDS OF SPECIAIJ TYPESFiled Jul .9, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5] nuewtoz 54W]? WWW $1 alto'umnPatented .im. s, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE A. WIDMANN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO VOICE RECORDERCOMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD OF PRODUCING PHONOGRAPH RECORDS OF SPEUIAL TYPES.

Application filed July 29, 1918. Serial No. 247,185.

To aZZwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE Amman WIDMANN, citizen of the United States,and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods ofProducing Phonograph Records of Special Types, ofwhich the following isa specification.

I have invented an improved process or method for the manufacture oftablets for phonographic records; and my invention relates especially toa method according to which I am enabled to produce tablets resemblin inshape and appearance any objects wiiich I may desire to represent orimitate by means of such tablets.

The main purpose of my invention is to devise a method for makingexpeditiously and on a large scale tablets in imitation of almost anobject, animate or inanimate, in whic the general public or any part ofthe same may be interested; and simultaneously provide such a tabletwith a phonographic record the theme of which concerns or in somesuggestive way corresponds with the original object which theconfiguration and coloring of the tablet represents. p

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a method by which thegreatest ossible degree of likeness between the tabet and. the selectedob'ect may be readily attained; and by whic making may be embossed orgiven relief effects and colored as required to secure and enhance suchlikeness.

The nature of my invention will be made clear in the followingdescription, read in connection with the accompanying drawings forming aart of the same; and the novel features 0' my improved method will berecisel defined in the appended claims. I esire t is specification,however, to be construed as explanatory only, and as setting forth butone mode in which my improved method can be practised; for other modesmay be adapted and changes in the invention as herein outlined may bemade, within the scope and spirit thereof, and as indicated -by thegeneral meanings of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

the tablet in the On the drawings: Figure 1 shows a body ofrecord-formmg material used in themanufacture of tablets according to myimproved method; Figure 2 shows a iece of cloth or the l1ke,-marked andco ored by printing or otherwise, and intended as a covering for therecord-forming material to make the finished tablet resemble as much aspossible the object to be imitated, showing a central circular openingtherethrough of a predetermined. diameter to equal that of the record tobe stamped upon the finished product.

Figure 3 is a top plan of the tablet as it appears when comp eted; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the completed tablet.

The same numerals identify the same parts throughout.

In the practice of my method I take a body of record forming materialwhich is here shown as a flat blank 1, but which may be in any shape ormass most convenient for pressing into the desired form. In pressingcommercial disks of a certain record material in extensive use at thepresent time this material is presented to the press in the form of aheated mass, which flows from the centre outwardly in all directions asit is flattened in the process. I therefore for the purpose ofconvenience of description take the material in this flattened form asthe theoretical starting point in the working of my process, it beingunderstood that the blank material in any other form available forintroduction into the stamping press would meet the requirements of suchinitial step.

In the next step or pressing stage I prefer to employ a die comprisingat least two members, one to form one face of the body 1 and the otherthe opposite face. The body 1 will not only be worked so as to receivethe desired confi ration or outline, but one face or side wi l he madein relief;

that is, parts of the face mentioned will it necessary to show theprecise type of die which I need, for the reason that the principlcs ofdie-making are well known and dies for embossing articles of everyimaginable shape can easily be obtained on order from those skilled inart. It is there fore deemed sufficient to state that the members of thedie must be such as to give the results which are above set forth; alsothat the intaglio die member which gives the cameo effects to that faceof the body 1 which is to serve as the upper face will be formed so thatit not only makes that face appear in relief but also impresses thegrooves 2 constituting the record on that face in the same operation.

In so far as the shape of the completed product is concerned, the tabletwith the phonographic record thereon, as it is delivered by the die,will be as illustrated by Figures 3 and 4. I have chosen for the sake ofexample to make the tablet in imitation of a human being, the tabletincluding the body, the head and the remaining members, and having thegrooves of the record shown at 2 located in the center. The phonographicrecord on the tablet in this instance will be capable of reproducing asong or some other subject-matter pertaining to the figure or associatedwith it; and the same correspondence between the object which the tabletrepresents and the subject-matter of the record will exist when I makesuch tablets to resemble other articles, animate or inanimate; as willbe readily understood.

That portion of the die which contains the grooves of the record can bemade in one piece with the rest of that portion; .or it may be made as aseparate piece, with the record cut or otherwise worked thereon andfastened to that part of the die in proper position and in any suitableway.

In the practice of my process the under die is preferably employed withraised portions to produce in its completed condition a tablet having arecess site that hearing the grooves 2. This recess ma be made to extendentirely through the tabliat if desired, but preferably that is notdone, but merely to form the bore of a boss 4 which will be adapted tofit over the centering stud of the turntable of a talking machine and toenable the tablet to remain in place as the turn-table revolves. Theface of the tablet 1 bearing the boss 4 will be made concave, as shownat 5.

As already stated, in the preferred method, the face or side of thetablet on which the record grooves 2 are impressed will be formed inrelief so that the parts of the tablet which represent the parts of theobject to be imitated will cause'the tablet to bear a greater likenessto the ori inal. 11 order to increase this likeness color or otherwisemark the parts of the tablet ac- 3 in the face oppocording to the huesor tints of the object which the tablet is designed to resemble. l maydo this in almost any suitable fashion, but I prefer to proceed byapplying to the face of the tablet which presents the our hossed effectsa colored covering (3. This covering can be of cloth or paper or anyconvenient material, marked and colored by printin or in some othermanner; so that the di ercnt parts of the same will be of the requiredshade or shades. The cover ing 6 is attached to the blank in the sameoperation by which the tablet is stamped out with the die; and whilethis covering may be applied in several pieces if desired, in many ofthe simpler designs the covering may be made in one piece, in which caseit may be applied more easily than where several layers or partiallayers are employed.

lVhen the body of record forming material is ready so as to receive itsoutline in the manner above disclosed, it is heated to some extent inorder to soften it. The covering 6 is then laid over it and both thebody 1 and covering 6 are subjected lo the action of the die at the sametime. The various parts of the covering are thus applied to and pressedupon the corresponding parts of the tablet; and as the body 1 is heatedso as to make it more pliable, the covering 6 will adhere to the bodyand when the tablet is delivered the covering will he firmly attachedthereto, and the various parts of the tablet will not only he in reliefbut in color also when the tablet attains its completed condition. Ifone piece is used for the covering 6 it preferably should have a centralopening 7 so as to expose to the proper die member that part of thetablet in which the record grooves 2 are to be formed. Of coursean,adhesive may be used to secure the covering to the recordformingmaterial if needed, but in most instances the material itself willsupply the adhesive property required.

The die may be so made that it will not only give the tablet the propershape and color and affix the covering thereto in the roper location,but will also trim the edges of the tablet and obviate any roughness inthe outline of same.

The method herein set forth may be practiscd in various ways so as tomake tablets in large numbers. The record forming material 1 may be inthe shape of a long sheet or-strip, as shown, or in other convenientforms as pointed out, and the material for the coverings may be ofcorresponding size and shape and marked and colored in different placesto provide successive coverings 6 for each tablet as fast as the die canmake same. For example, by employing cylindrical dies, the recordmaterial 1 if in the shape of a strip can he worked in conjunction witha strip of the same length or width of cloth or paper and havingsuccessive figures of the object to be imitated thereon. The strip ofrecord forming material with the strip of cloth or the like upon it canthen be fed to the rotating die continously; or a like continuous stripmay be fed into the usual reciprocating type of die press, and 'so timedwith the die members that on each working stroke, the die members willregister with the colored figures upon the strip of material for thecoverings; thus providing the coverings 'for the tablets in successionas they are made. As each figure made in the manner indicated will havea central opening 7 as above mentioned, each tablet will thus not onlybe formed, embossed and colored, but will also receive its record fromone of the die members in a single operation.

As pointed out, I may so design the dies that I can give the tablets notonly the form of a human being, but the form of any living object orscene including animate or inanimate objects and the subject-matter ofthe record in every instance will be a propriate and pertain to the ideathe tab et is intended to convey to the observers mind.

By means of the method above explained I may produce tablets relating toa vast range of topics, the subject-matter of the record being intendedfor the ear and the appearance of the tablet being intended for the eye;and by this expedient the finished product is made to appeal morestrongly to the observer. Practically every subject that is of anyinterest to the public can be presented in the manner described with aminimum of cost of production and a high degree of artistic efi'ectobtained.

Having described my invention, what I 49 believe to be new and desire tosecure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The process of making a toy phonograph record which consists infirst, the

in of a predetermined diameter, placing the 50 figure with the openingover the record mass, inserting the same in a phonograph record pressingdevice having a matrix of the size of the said opening so that thematrix registers therewith, and imprinting the matrix through saidopening into said record material, substantially as described.

2. The Within described process consistin of preparing a mass of recordmateria, placing over the same a pictorial cover having an opening ofthe required diameter therein, placing the same in a stamping presshavin .a sound record matrix therein so that t e matrix registers withthe opening in said cover portion, and pressing therein a phonographrecord, thereby causing the covering portion permanently to adhere tothe record portion.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this16th I0 day of Februar A. D. 1918.

E GENE A. WIDMANN.

